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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23844370">Star-Spangled</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/coolslytherin/pseuds/coolslytherin'>coolslytherin</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Thorne &amp; Rowling</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Fluff, M/M, Post-Canon, Post-Hogwarts, Scorpius Malfoy/Albus Severus Potter Fluff, Scorpius tries to culture Albus, Their relationship is thriving, albus and scorpius are already together, american travel, coronavirus escape</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 20:02:10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>12,876</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23844370</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/coolslytherin/pseuds/coolslytherin</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Albus and Scorpius have just graduated Hogwarts, and are going on a trans-American trip as part of a long-standing tradition for Hogwarts graduates. Albus is feeling weary about the future, but Scorpius thinks that this trip is what Albus needs, and Albus is just happy to be with Scorpius.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Scorpius Malfoy/Albus Severus Potter</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>26</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. London</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hey everyone! </p><p>This is my fanfic debut, if you will. I have been aggressively shipping Albus and Scorpius for a while now, and I figured with this quarantine, I'd try writing a little story for them on my own. I've always wondered what it would be like if this pair went to America for a while, and I am doing my best to imagine that through this story. Please give me feedback! I'd love to hear from those who read this! Also, I would love to have someone to look over any future chapters I write to make sure there aren't any grammatical errors and such and maybe even give me some advice on some things. Let me know if you are interested! Hope you in joy this first chapter! :)</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>There were several things Albus was irritated about in the car ride to London Heathrow Airport. One of them was the frightening idea that he would be hurdling across the Atlantic in a rather large scrap of metal for eight hours. Another was the fact that his parents would not stop bothering him about every single detail of the trip, especially now, minutes before they had to say their final goodbyes.</p>
<p>“You’re sure you have enough sunscreen?” Ginny asked, with the concerned, slightly worried face she had worn for the past forty-eight hours.</p>
<p>“Yes, mum,” Albus rolled his eyes, something that he found himself doing a lot in the past few hours. “You’ve asked me that question three times already.”</p>
<p>“And you’re positive you’ve got your wand, Al?” Harry added from the front seat, with an expression that almost fully matched his wife’s.                               </p>
<p>Albus scoffed. “Do I have my wand, Dad? Seriously! It’s like you think I—” <em>Wait, do I have it? Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck. </em>Suddenly wide-eyed in a burst of intense panic, Albus slapped his hand against his right pocket and sighed in relief when he felt the familiar shape. He was glad to know that his parents didn’t notice this, as it would probably only cause them further worry. His boyfriend, however, noticed the whole thing and tried his best not to laugh at him.</p>
<p>“Not to worry, Mrs. Potter! I’ve already checked all of his stuff with my own list and made sure that he didn’t forget anything,” Scorpius grinned over at Ginny. As different Scorpius could be from Albus in some ways (especially in the areas of organization), Albus was certain he would have no idea what he would do without him. If he had to go on this trip, Albus was glad it was with his best friend, who also happened to be his boyfriend.</p>
<p>“I’ve always wanted to travel via airplane,” Scorpius beamed. I read that muggles even have their own sort of Trolley Witch that <em>give</em> you full meals <em>and </em>drinks!”</p>
<p>Harry chuckled from the front seat. “I think you mean flight attendants, Scorpius.”</p>
<p>“And while they may be a little easier to get past than the Trolley Witch, you better not let Albus talk you into any escapes” Ginny warned. Albus rolled his eyes. Ginny turned her head to look directly at Albus now.</p>
<p> “Albus—don’t roll your eyes at me and maybe listen to your mother for once—you know if you try anything on this trip, I will ground the shit out of you before you can even say ‘exploding snap’,” Ginny continued, “And don’t think you’re too old to be grounded now that you’re graduated. I still ground James. Hell, I ground your father sometimes when he pisses me off.”</p>
<p>Albus couldn’t help but smile at his mom’s ferocity. It was one of his favorite things about her and he was very happy to have inherited some of that trait as well. “You really don’t need to worry, mum,” Albus reassured. He really meant it too. After the events that took place in their fourth year, Albus’s motivation to do anything as remotely as rebellious diminished. In fact, Albus was hardly the reason they were in the car heading to the airport in the first place.</p>
<p>It was Scorpius’s idea to go on an extravagant, Trans-American trip, with support of course from both Albus’s parents and Draco. It is sort of a rite of passage for all Hogwarts students to go on a summer trip following their graduation and while it’s always been Albus trying to convince a reluctant Scorpius to go on their adventures, this time was different.</p>
<p>The fact that this <em>was </em>a rite of passage was what scared Albus the most. It was hard for Albus to not view this trip as just the inevitable launchpad into the mystery of the rest of his life. The truth was, he was very scared about starting a new chapter—especially when his boyfriend has known that he wanted to be a healer for years now, and already had plans to start his Healer training in the fall. And Albus? He wasn’t as privileged enough to see so clearly into the future. Right now, his most obvious choice would be to begin Auror training, but it always seemed like a safe choice for him especially considering who his father was. While Albus still loves his father, he’s always felt like he has never truly stepped out the enormous shadow cast by Harry Potter.</p>
<p>Stemming back from the constant rumors about Scorpius being the “Son of Voldemort” and him getting called the “Slytherin Squib” constantly, he never felt completely at home at Hogwarts. But at least he had distinct paths set for him for the past seven years. Now, he felt like a train at the end of the tracks that needed to learn to steer itself.</p>
<p>Scorpius promised him this trip could help him find answers. Albus wasn’t sure if he really believed this, but it didn’t really matter. Scorpius was excited for this, and Albus was excited to be with Scorpius, wherever that may take him. If anything, this trip was a nice celebration of them being involved for three years this summer.</p>
<p>After a little more questioning from his parents and some long hugs (and maybe a tear or two shed by his dad), Albus and Scorpius were officially on their own, approaching the security checkpoint. Scorpius came to an abrupt halt, with an expression somewhere (adorably) between shocked realization and excitement.</p>
<p>“Wait, I almost forgot!”</p>
<p>“What’s up, Scorp?” Albus questioned, confused.</p>
<p>Scorpius reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out two small cards and two small books, handing one of each to Albus. “Muggle IDs and passports,” Scorpius explained. Albus examined these new things, paying special attention to the rather unflattering photo of him, the origins of which he really has no idea.</p>
<p>“Hey, these both have the year of my birthday wrong. It says I am twenty-one here,” Albus said with a confused expression.</p>
<p>“That’s on purpose, Al. You have to be 21 to drink anything with alcohol in it there. It’s very odd if you ask me, considering you can vote at 18 but can’t enjoy a glass of fire whiskey or even wine,” Scorpius said, “I figured I’d modify that just in case we’re in the event that we may want to be a few years older.” Albus looked over at Scorpius and smiled. Scorpius reciprocated with a mischievous grin of his own.</p>
<p>Maybe this trip wouldn’t be such a bad thing after all. If anything, it gave the pair some much-needed alone time, something they lacked greatly at Hogwarts. They were moving in with each other later in the summer, but Albus was happy to start the newfound time together a little earlier.</p>
<p>They really did try their best to make it through security without it being too much of an ordeal. However, being wizards who have never seen such inventions by muggles, at least a little bit of a spectacle was in line, and this came all too soon right after they presented their passports when Scorpius asked one of the security agents if he could try operating the large device muggles used to see through bags.</p>
<p>“Sir, I’m going to need you to step over here for a pat-down,” the security agent said as he motioned for Scorpius into a separate roped-off area. Scorpius shot a worried look over at Albus. Albus felt the instinctual worry for his boyfriend, especially when he watched the security agent pat Scorpius in areas he really preferred to be the only person to be able to pat. He almost began striding over there with a determined glare on his face when Scorpius quickly shook his head.</p>
<p>Shortly after, Scorpius was given the clear and both of them watched their bags go through the security machines, sincerely hoping that their undetectable extension charms held up. After they were all clear, they proceeded into the very unfamiliar terminal of the airport. It really was something unlike anything they had ever seen before, with large glass windows and long tubes that connected the building to the aircrafts.</p>
<p>Albus tried his best to follow what Scorpius was saying as he enthusiastically explained all the different inter-workings of a muggle airport, but he really just enjoyed how Scorpius’s face lit up when he was talking about something that fascinated him.</p>
<p>After around two hours of finding ways to pass the time (Scorpius insisted on getting there three hours before their flight even boarded “just to be safe”), they were on the airplane in their seats, slowly but surely figuring out how to latch their seatbelts.</p>
<p>“Is this your first time flying?” A middle-aged woman across the aisle asked as she watched them fumbling with the buckles.</p>
<p>“No, but it’s our first time flying on an airplane. We usually just take br—” Scorpius cut off with a very shocked expression at what he was about to say. The woman looked very confused.</p>
<p>“What he means to say is that we have a friend that has a helicopter,” Albus finished for him. The woman nodded as Albus watched Scorpius grimace at his own lack of filter.</p>
<p>They continued to work on their seatbelts, and Scorpius made an excited squeak when they heard the latch click into place, and then he helped Albus with his. Once they were settled, it was only a matter of time before they were speeding down the runway at a speed that both Albus and Scorpius had never experienced before, even on brooms.</p>
<p>Their first stop was New York City, which apparently is a ‘must’ for wizards traveling to America for the first time. Ever since they decided to go on this trip, Scorpius had been doing extensive research on all of the places they were planning to visit, and from what Scorpius had told him, New York was one of the places Albus was most excited for. After that, they would travel with a set of Portkeys in Scorpius’ suitcase assigned to all of their desired destinations that they had the ministry set up for them.</p>
<p>As they gained altitude, Albus watched the shadows of the passing clouds rush across Scorpius’ absolutely elated face as he peered out the window. He rarely sees Scorpius <em>this</em> excited (which is saying something), and the intense happiness he always seemed to radiate in these moments made Albus love him that much more.</p>
<p>Scorpius looked over, noticing Albus staring at him. He smiled widely at Albus, a smile that never failed to give him that fluttering feeling in his chest.</p>
<p>“Are you ready, Al?”</p>
<p>Albus beamed back at his boyfriend and took Scorpius’s hand. “Of course.”          </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. New York City</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Albus and Scorpius take on New York City, and they learn what it is like to be on their own. Selfies are to be taken, panful memories are to be confronted, and much fun is to be had.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hey again! Here is an especially long chapter to make up for the brief chapter 1. The way that coronavirus just isn't a thing in Albus and Scorpius's world...Hope y'all are able to at least live a little vicariously through this story!</p><p>Still looking for someone to read over chapters before I publish them! Let me know if you're interested in helping out! :) I appreciate those who left kudos! Comments with your thoughts will always be much appreciated. &lt;3</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It took less than an hour into the flight for Albus to realize that there was a reason that wizards chose not to fly on muggle airplanes very often. From not being able to even stand when there was a slight bump in the air or the tiny servings of food and drinks they got, Albus was just ready for it to be over.</p><p>Scorpius, on the other hand, was having the time of his life. He wore the same excited expression for the first half of the plane-ride, conversing with the flight attendants every time they passed by. His excitement only wavered when he fell asleep on Albus’s shoulder after reading a few chapters of <em>The English Guide to Traveling in America. </em></p><p>Albus was not much of a reader himself, so he resorted to alternating between trying to figure out how to work the screen on the back of the seat in front of them and staring at an adorable sleeping Scorpius. Even when Scorpius slept, he still had remnants of a smile on his face. Albus didn’t notice it at first, but if he looked very carefully, he could see the corners of Scorpius’s mouth shyly point upward.</p><p>The sounds of Scorpius’s slow, calm breathing eventually lured Albus himself to sleep. The pair of them only woke when the captain came on the intercom and announced that they were beginning their final descent into New York.</p><p>Both of them looked out the window and saw the sprawling skyline of Manhattan. What made the view even better was that it was nighttime, and the lights shining off of, out of, and in-between all the buildings were breathtaking. London had similar types of skyscrapers, but it was amazing to see how muggles managed to pack so many huge buildings on such a relatively small island.</p><p>Scorpius craned his neck, trying to get the best view of the city and Albus rested his chin on Scorpius’s shoulder so he could see out as well.</p><p>“You see that dark rectangle in the middle of the island?” Scorpius noticed, doing his best to point it out to Albus. It took some searching, but Albus finally found it and was immediately perplexed by the exact rectangle of darkness, surrounded by brightness as intense as the rest of the island. It looked like someone had deliberately cut out a perfect rectangle of the city.</p><p>“Yeah, what is that?” Albus asked, automatically assuming that Scorpius knew exactly what it was.</p><p>“That is Central Park. It’s the most visited park in America,” Scorpius stated while still observing the sprawling urban landscape in front of them.</p><p>“Well then, I guess we will have to go then,” said Albus, smiling over at his boyfriend.</p><p>Scorpius quickly nodded. “We will! I already have everything planned out,” Scorpius explained as he pulled out a piece of parchment from the pocket on his hoodie. He unfolded it and handed it over to Albus. Albus examined the list.</p><p>
  <em> <span class="u">Things to Do in New York City with Albus</span> </em>
</p>
<ol>
<li><em>Central Park</em></li>
<li><em>Snog in Central Park</em></li>
<li><em>Times Square</em></li>
<li><em>Snog in Times Square (Maybe? It is a very public place…)</em></li>
<li><em>Museum of Modern Art</em></li>
<li><em>Snog at the Museum of Modern Art (Again, public, but I think it is probably doable)</em></li>
<li><em>Extra Snogging at the hotel ;)</em></li>
</ol><p>While he wasn’t surprised at the very least, Albus couldn’t help but smile at Scorpius’s aggressive organization. “Scorpius, you have snogging written under every single location,” Albus laughed.</p><p>“Hey, I only wrote it just in case we needed a reminder,” Scorpius grinned all too mischievously at Albus.</p><p>“Well I have a feeling we won’t need many reminders,” Albus said as he patted his boyfriend’s thigh. Scorpius playfully knocked his knee into Albus’s.</p><p>As they started becoming relatively close to the ground, Albus noticed Scorpius getting a little fidgety while throwing worried glances out the window, then firmly placing the back of his head on the headrest behind him.</p><p>“You alright, Scorp?” Albus asked, suddenly confused by Scorpius’s random change in behavior.</p><p>“You know, I kind of forgot about the whole landing part to be honest,” Scorpius sighed.</p><p>Albus took his boyfriend’s hand and rubbed his thumb over the slightly trembling fingers. “It’ll be okay, Scorpius,” Albus reassured, “My dad said flying on a muggle airplane is actually a lot lest riskier than apparating. No risk of being splinched and all.”</p><p>Scorpius sighed again, “I’ll just be happier when we are on the ground in one piece.”</p><p>Eventually, they were on the ground, and Albus felt Scorpius’s tension ease as the plane rolled on towards the airport.</p><p>By the time they were off the plane, bags collected, and in the cab to their hotel, it was well past midnight. However, the pair of them were the least bit tired as both of them stared at the amazing sights New York had to provide. They passed large billboards, advertising for all sorts of things like new movies coming out or the hottest clubs of the city. They passed large crowds of people making their way in a hurry wherever they were off to, even though it was already late in the night.</p><p>“This really is the City that Never Sleeps,” Albus observed.</p><p>“It really is,” Scorpius nodded in agreement, obviously entranced by this new way of life they had never seen before. They had a lot to learn already.</p><p>Their hotel was in the heart of the city, only a few blocks away from Times Square. Draco had insisted that he book all of their lodging and transportation for them and chose hotels that lived up to every single expectation Albus had of something chosen by a Malfoy. Their hotel room was much larger than their dormitory at Hogwarts and provided an amazing view of the twinkling city laid out in front of them.</p><p>The pair was still not much tired at all, having slept a little on the plane. After unpacking a little (and breaking in the room with some much-needed snogging), they decided to begin their exploration a little early by heading over to Times Square.</p><p>Scorpius had purchased a muggle phone and did some extensive research on how to use it so they would at least be able to find their way around the city without looking too lost. After a few wrong turns and some backtracking, they finally were able to follow the glow of the nearby large screens onto Broadway Avenue.</p><p>Albus watched the glow of the lights reflect off of Scorpius’s face as he took in as much of the view as possible. He had never been somewhere so bright at nighttime, and it was truly something to behold.</p><p>After walking down Broadway a little more, past shops of all different types, Scorpius came to a halt, reached into his pocket and pulled out the muggle phone. After making a few concentrated taps on it, the phone suddenly showed their own faces as if it were a mirror. Albus wondered how Scorpius picked up on things so quickly.</p><p>“Smile,” Scorpius said, “This is what the muggles call a ‘selfie’. They really do have the best names for things if you ask me.”</p><p>While he was still a little confused, Albus did his best to smile as the phone made a noise similar to the shutter being clicked on a camera. Scorpius made another tap on the phone and the image he had just taken appeared in front of them. While it didn’t move like the magical photos they were used to, Albus was happy Scorpius had brought something along to document these important memories.</p><p>“You look good, Al,” Scorpius said as he admired the photo of them, perfectly positioned with the stretch of Times Square behind them.</p><p>“No, <em>we </em>look good Scorpius. Come on, we <em>must</em> be one of the Wizarding World’s most-attractive couples,” Albus confidently stated.</p><p>Scorpius laughed as he put his arm around Albus and pulled him in for a kiss on the cheek. Albus couldn’t help but blush. He thought back to two years ago, when they were getting ready to start their sixth year at Hogwarts. While they never really kept their relationship a secret (at least for very long), a move like that from Scorpius would have made him feel self-conscious, and he used to prefer that they kept their affection in private. However, as his love for Scorpius grew, he felt less of a need to hide it and more of a want to show it. Now, more than ever, in the land of the free, Albus was proud to show everyone around them how much he loved Scorpius. It was Albus’s turn to put his arm around Scorpius and pull him in for a big kiss, this time on the lips.</p><p>Scorpius eventually pulled back, looking slightly surprised. “I love you,” Albus stated looking directly into Scorpius’s deep grey eyes, “so fucking much.”</p><p>Scorpius visibly blushed and closed his eyes for a moment, as if he was feeling a little overwhelmed by emotion. He opened them shortly after as a single tear fell down his cheek.</p><p>“I love you too, Al,” Scorpius beamed, “so f—” he hesitated. He was never one to use swear words in his vocabulary. “—so fucking much.”</p><p>Scorpius flashed his most radiant smile, which was only more amplified by the neon lights surrounding them.</p><p>Albus took his boyfriend’s hand, and they continued to walk around, sometimes passing things that interested one of them and stopping to take a look. They weaved in and out of side-streets, and as they passed the Lyric Theatre, Albus noticed his boyfriend becoming a little fatigued.</p><p>“So, ya wanna get outta heah?” Albus asked, trying his best New Yorker accent.</p><p>Scorpius laughed and looked over at Albus, “Yeah let’s get back. It’s almost two in the morning.”</p><p>They walked hand-in-hand back to the hotel and were in their room way before Albus had expected. Time always seemed to go a little faster when he was around Scorpius. As soon as Albus saw the bed in front of him, he jumped on the opportunity to collapse onto it, the exhaustion of a day of traveling finally catching up to him.</p><p>Scorpius sat on the bed next to him and placed a hand on his back. It was then when Albus realized this would be the first time he and Scorpius truly shared a bed. Sure, they had slept together before, sometimes sneaking nights together in each other’s beds at Hogwarts, or the nights when Scorpius would somehow find his way into Albus’s bed when he stayed with him at the Potter’s. But this was <em>their </em>bed, and now that he thought about it, this could very well be the way it gets to be for the rest of his life. Now <em>this</em> was a post-Hogwarts luxury he could get behind.</p><p>“We still have to shower Al,” Scorpius pointed out as he pulled gently on Albus’s arm.</p><p>“In the morning,” Albus groaned, his voice muffled in the soft covers, which were begging for him to get under.</p><p>“You know how I feel, Al,” Scorpius complained.</p><p>The pair had known about their conflicting shower habits for a while now, but there were rarely any opportunities for Scorpius to enforce it. Albus was a morning showerer and Scorpius was a devout morning bather.</p><p>“I just can’t <em>stand </em>getting into bed with a whole day’s filth on me,” Scorpius would say. This was his way of passive-aggressively guilting Albus into mustering up the motivation to shower too. It usually wasn’t too hard for Scorpius to convince him, because sharing the same shower schedule meant that he usually got to shower <em>with </em>Scorpius, which was always an opportunity that he found particularly difficult to turn down.</p><p>“Okay, okay, I’m coming,” Albus conceded, as he slowly rose from the bed. He followed an especially eager Scorpius into the bathroom.</p><p>As they finished up bathing each other, something that usually happened following some shower activities that were much too hard to avoid, Scorpius talked about all of the things he had planned for them in the following days. Albus did his best to listen, but the thought of snuggling up with Scorpius in the very soft-looking luxurious bed began rapidly taking over his mind.</p><p>They finished up their shower, threw on some underwear, and were in the long-awaited bed together. “I can’t believe I’m actually here with you. It almost feels like a dream,” said Scorpius, as he found the usual spot between Albus’s shoulder and chest to rest his head. Albus placed a small peck on his boyfriend’s soft, pale hair. “Me too actually,” Albus agreed. Scorpius turned to smile up at Albus, and Albus used the opportunity to kiss him again on the lips.</p><p>Albus gave his boyfriend an affectionate squeeze. “Night, Scorp,” he said softly.</p><p>“Goodnight, Al,” Scorpius trailed off. It really didn’t take Scorpius long to give way to the temptation of sleep.</p><p>Albus rubbed his hand up and down Scorpius’s back as he listened to the much-alive sounds from the streets below them. He slowly began to drift off to sleep as well, with his last remaining thoughts of the night being the happiness he felt about having Scorpius to share these important moments with.</p>
<hr/><p>Taking the ‘subway’ (as they called it here in America) to the Museum of Modern Art came surprisingly easy to them, as it was very similar to the Tube back in London. This was good, because they were determined to do their best to blend in with the muggle life as much as possible.</p><p>However, this was already tested when Albus dropped his breakfast bagel down his button-up shirt, leaving a trail of cream cheese all the way down to his khaki shorts. They made a quick trip to a very sketchy subway station bathroom to <em>scorgify </em>the mess off of Albus. Scorpius hastily returned his wand into his pocket, and they were on their way before someone noticed anything worth looking at.</p><p>“I’m really excited to see a lot of the art here,” said Scorpius as they waited in line to be admitted into the museum. “We learned about some of them in our Muggle Studies class,” he added.</p><p>“Oh, really?” Albus asked. Scorpius smiled and nodded.</p><p>“Yeah, like some of Monet’s Water Lily paintings, or Vincent van Gough’s Starry Night,” Scorpius went on, “You remember Starry Night, right Al?”</p><p>The truth was that Albus couldn’t say he did. He found it really hard to pay attention in muggle studies, and usually relied on Scorpius’s notes to do decently well in the class.</p><p>“Yeah, I think so,” Albus said, very unconvincingly.</p><p>They made it through the entrance of the museum, and began on the first floor, working their way up the different levels. Albus loved to see how much Scorpius knew about the different eras of art and the artists that lived in them. Scorpius was the kind of person that liked to stop and look at the descriptions for every piece they walked by, but Albus didn’t mind.</p><p>“What do you think?” Scorpius asked as they stared at the famous <em>Starry Night</em>.</p><p>“Honestly, I’m a little underwhelmed,” Albus admitted. “To be honest, I’d say I’m more of a music person.” Albus immediately became worried that could have offended Scorpius. “I’m sorry, I meant that—”</p><p>“No, it’s totally fine, Al!” Scorpius smiled. “I have the perfect idea. Honestly, I should’ve thought of it sooner,” he added.</p><p>“What is it?” Albus asked. He really had no idea what Scorpius was thinking. Was he going to find a wizarding band concert for them to go to? Albus didn’t even know that Scorpius listened to bands like The Weird Sisters, much less bands in America.</p><p>“Don’t worry about it. It’ll be a surprise,” said Scorpius with a wink. Albus couldn’t help but want to trust his boyfriend, so he followed Scorpius out of the museum back on to the streets of New York.</p>
<hr/><p>“Are you going to tell me where we are going yet, Scorpius?”</p><p>Scorpius was following the muggle phone intently, so he didn’t fully hear what Albus was saying. “We will need to find some nicer attire,” Scorpius explained as he led Albus into a very upscale shop that sold all sorts of men’s suits and ties. “We didn’t think to bring anything like that, so we will just have to make do with something here.”</p><p>Albus had never worn a muggle suit and tie, but he had seen them all the time on the streets of muggle London, so he at least generally knew how to put them on when he was given an emerald green one by Scorpius to try on.</p><p>Albus slowly worked his way into the suit, and he wasn’t exactly sure how to feel about the way it fit. They never wore anything like this in their days at Hogwarts. The jacket and pants were relatively tight, but he didn’t <em>hate </em>the way he looked in it. If anything, the color of the suit brought out his eyes nicely.</p><p>“Wow!” Scorpius gasped as they admired each other’s new looks in a dressing room mirror.” “You look...hot! I think I’m sweating. Am I sweating?”</p><p>Albus felt blood rise to his cheeks. “Nah, Scorp. You look pretty good yourself,” Albus admitted. Scorpius was wearing a grey silk suit with an emerald green tie that almost looked silver, that fit his slender form almost perfectly.</p><p>“Oh, here,” Scorpius realized as he put a silver tie around Albus’s neck and tied it for him. It took a minute or two of adjustments before Scorpius was satisfied with his work. Now that their ensembles were complete, the pair looked again in the mirror. Their ties made their suits invert each other perfectly. <em>Of course Scorpius would think of this, </em>Albus thought. He couldn’t help but grin at Scorpius’s love of coordination. They really did look cute together.</p><p>“Give me your old clothes,” Scorpius said as he gathered his own belongings together. Albus handed him all his things with the exception of his wand, which fit nicely in his jacket pocket. Scorpius performed a rather impressive banishing spell in the discretion of their dressing room stall. He then took Albus’s hand and they made their way to the front of the store.</p><p>“We’ll wear them out,” Scorpius declared as he paid for their new clothes.</p><p>“Of course,” the sales associate smiled at him. Albus couldn’t help but notice the continued glances the man would sneak at Scorpius as he finished ringing everything up.</p><p>“He was totally checking you out, Scorpius,” Albus insisted as he was being led by Scorpius wherever they were off to (Scorpius still would not tell, much to Albus’s dismay).</p><p>“I think someone’s getting a little bit jealous,” Scorpius teased as he intently watched his muggle phone, making sure they didn’t take any wrong turns.</p><p>“I can’t help it! It just <em>irks </em>me,” Albus shuddered.</p><p>“It <em>irks </em>you?” Scorpius scoffed. “Albus, you and I both know that we couldn’t even cheat on each other if we <em>wanted </em>to. Have you <em>seen </em>us in any given social situation?”</p><p>He did have a point. They weren’t really the most outgoing people.</p><p>The muggle phone told them that they were not too far away from their final destination and as they approached a large plaza with a large fountain in the middle, Scorpius finally took the opportunity to tell him what he had in store for their evening.</p><p>“Since you said you enjoy music, I figured I would take you to see a live symphony orchestra—the New York Philharmonic specifically. My mother took me a lot when I was little to see the London Symphony Orchestra, and I figured you would enjoy something like this.”</p><p>Albus frowned. “I’m not sure I’m following.”</p><p>Scorpius tilted his head, with a puzzled expression on his face. “You mean you’ve never listened to classical music before?”</p><p>Albus shook his head. “No, I don’t think so,” he confirmed. Maybe he had heard about it at some point in his Muggle Studies class? <em>I really should have paid more attention, </em>he thought regretfully.</p><p>“Well, it’s never too late to give it a try,” Scorpius decided.</p><p>Albus followed Scorpius to the ticket booth, where Scorpius happily purchased two tickets. They had about two hours before the concert, so they went to a small restaurant across the street to get dinner and drinks.</p><p>Albus gaped as their waiter brought out five extremely large plates of food. He had let Scorpius order for him, as he had a little more experience when it came to these sorts of things, but Albus forgot that Scorpius’s eyes were sometimes a little big for his stomach.</p><p>“I forgot that the portions were larger here,” Scorpius tried confessing as they started down at the buffet-size amount of food on their table.</p><p>“Do you want this?” Scorpius asked as he held up one of the plates to the table next to them.</p><p>“No thanks,” a middle-aged man said as he turned back to his date, laughing.</p><p>Albus couldn’t help but feel a little embarrassed. However, he did admire his boyfriend’s determination sometimes.</p><p>After Scorpius foot the bill (much to Albus’s objection) they took their last bites, downed the rest of their wine glasses, and were back across the street into Lincoln Center. They made it inside with only a few minutes to spare, and Albus could feel Scorpius’s excitement building as they settled in their seats.</p><p>“They are performing Mahler’s first symphony tonight, one of my favorites” Scorpius gushed.</p><p>As the person who looked like he was the leader of the group came out and bowed along with the rest of the musicians, Albus was still not sure what to expect. But as always, he was just happy to see Scorpius so excited.</p><p>The musicians began to play, and the first thing Albus noticed was the orchestra leader (or the conductor as Scorpius had told Albus earlier). He was a fairly large bald man, and he was waving what looked very much like a wand around, seeming to control the musicians in front of him. As unmagical as Albus knew it really was, it really did seem like so much magic was happening on the stage. It looked beautiful, Albus thought. It sounded beautiful, too.</p><p>Throughout the hour-long piece of music, Albus found himself looking over at Scorpius frequently, and he found Scorpius crying many of those times.</p><p>“You okay?” Albus whispered into his boyfriend’s ear.</p><p>The corners of Scorpius’s mouth turned up and he nodded slightly as Albus watched a few more tears fall down his cheeks.</p><p>Albus felt it was better not to worry too much about it in the moment, but after the piece came to a glorious finish (one that may have caused Albus to shed a few tears himself), he sat with Scorpius on a secluded bench outside.</p><p>“I noticed you seemed a little sad during the concert, Scorp,” admitted Albus as he threw an arm around his friend. “Are you sure you’re okay?”</p><p>“Yeah,” he sighed, “I just wasn’t expecting being there to make me miss my mother so much, that’s all. It’s those moments that make me wish she was still around to go to those things with me,” he admitted, his voice unsteady.</p><p>Albus put his other arm around Scorpius and pulled him into a hug. Scorpius buried his face in Albus’s shoulder, and Albus could feel him begin to cry. Albus felt a deep pain swell inside his heart, one of utmost empathy for Scorpius, someone he couldn’t help but care so much about.</p><p>“As much as I wish I could, I know I could never erase the pain you face, Scorpius, but I want you to know that I will <em>always </em>be here for you so you at least don’t have to face it alone.”</p><p>“Thanks, Al. Every day I’m so thankful to have you. I really have no idea what I would do without you,” Scorpius sniffled.</p><p>“I love you.”</p><p>“I love you too.”</p><p>The pair sat in silence for a few more minutes while Scorpius tried his best to recompose himself. “I think we need some more fun tonight,” Scorpius declared. This reassured Albus that Scorpius was relatively back to his normal self.</p><p>“You have the ID I gave you, right?” Scorpius coaxed, with an all-too-mischievous grin.</p>
<hr/><p>“Out of all places, Scorpius Malfoy wants to go to a <em>gay bar. </em>I can’t believe it,” said Albus in disbelief. As shocked as he was, Albus was still excited. He and Scorpius had gone to pubs before in London, but never had ventured anywhere that aligned specifically with their identity as a gay couple.</p><p>Scorpius nervously smiled at Albus as the guard examined his ID Once they were inside, Albus was surprised to see the variety of people in front of him, expressing themselves all differently, but proudly. He was happy to see so many people living their best authentic selves, something he felt like he personally needed to improve on. He felt like he always tried to compensate for being a Potter. Authenticity was actually one of the things he looked up to Scorpius for.  Scorpius was never afraid to be himself.</p><p>“Do you want to get a drink?” Scorpius asked, gesturing over to the long bar on the other side of the light-up dancefloor. Albus excitedly nodded as he began to walk over to the bar, Scorpius’s hand in his.</p><p>They ended up both getting a bright blue drink the bartender called an “Adios, Motherfucker”. They sat in the only empty booth they could find, and happily sipped on their drinks, knowing full well that their prominent taste of alcohol probably meant trouble.</p><p>That trouble didn’t take long to hit, and once they were finished with their first drinks, Scorpius disappeared and came back with another round, but he didn’t sit this time. Instead, he handed one of the blue drinks to Albus, grabbed his other hand, and pulled.</p><p>“Let’s DANCE!” Scorpius exclaimed, already doing his best to bob to the loud dance music that filled up the club.</p><p>Albus hesitated, but he couldn’t say no to Scorpius, especially when he was this excited. It just wouldn’t be fair. He stood up and followed Scorpius to the dance floor. They drank as they shuffled their feet with the music, an arm hanging over each other’s shoulders.</p><p>It didn’t take long for them to finish their second drink, and they were at the bar again with a muggle couple taking shots, much influenced by their new acquaintances. Albus did not enjoy shots, so he only had one just so Scorpius wasn’t alone, but Scorpius ended up taking one more than him.</p><p>Albus finally convinced Scorpius to pay up at the bar, and they were back on the dancefloor. This time, their arms around each other and they were doing their best to mimic the very suggestive dancing other muggles wore doing around them. It didn’t take too long for their mouths to be on each other’s, deeply kissing as they moved to the music.</p><p>They maintained their pattern of alternating between dancing and snogging for a while until Albus realized they were holding each other upright more than actually dancing. “Wanna go?” Albus blubbered out.</p><p>“Yeah, les go Alby,” Scorpius slurred as he slouched into Albus’s shoulder.</p><p>Seeing each other drunk was not something that was exactly new to their relationship, but in his blurred mind, Albus couldn’t remember a time when they had been <em>this </em>drunk.</p><p>As much as Albus wanted to apparate them both back to the hotel, he knew that would be very risky, so he decided that it would be better for them to just walk back. Albus determined that Scorpius was much more intoxicated than himself, so Albus kept an arm around him to keep him from stumbling down or wandering off somewhere dangerous.</p><p>“Where’re we goin, Alby?” Scorpius giggled as he made a particularly intense stumble.</p><p>“Back to the hotel, Scorpy,” Albus laughed. Luckily, the hotel wasn’t too far from where they were, and Albus was able to remember his way back without the help of Scorpius’s phone.</p><p>“What’re we gonna do when we get there?” Scorpius asked, a little <em>too</em> innocently. Albus thought he knew where this was going. He definitely didn’t want to do <em>that</em> with Scorpius tonight, but he couldn’t help but smirk. It just didn’t feel right, considering Scorpius seemed to be way more drunk. Albus never wanted to risk taking advantage of his boyfriend.</p><p>Albus managed to get Scorpius into the hotel room without much of a scene. He knew that Scorpius would feel a lot better if he showered, so he got them both out of the multiple layers of formal clothing they were still wearing and into the shower without too much difficulty.</p><p>Albus did his best to wash up Scorpius and was halfway cleaning himself up when a very uneasy expression took over Scorpius’s face. “I don’t feel so good,” Scorpius muttered, as he immediately opened the shower curtain. Scorpius jumped out of the shower, slipping and sliding on the tile bathroom floor. Seconds later, Albus heard the unpleasant sounds of Scorpius vomiting in the adjacent toilet. He rinsed the remaining soap off his body and hurried out of the shower to help his boyfriend.</p><p>“You okay, Scorpius?” Albus tried as he quickly dried himself off.</p><p>“You don’t have to stay for this,” Scorpius groaned, still hunched over the toilet.</p><p>“Let me get you some water,” Albus offered as he grabbed a nearby glass and filled it with water from the sink. He handed it over to Scorpius, who gratefully took it. “Thanks.”</p><p>Scorpius tried to take some sips of water, but it immediately caused him to vomit again.</p><p>“Oh, I’m so sorry, Scorp. I knew I should’ve taken that last shot from you.”</p><p>“It’ll be fine, Al. Can you bring me my toiletry bag?”</p><p>“Of course,” Albus replied. He grabbed Scorpius’s bag from beside the sink and handed it to him. Scorpius pulled out a small potion bottle, quickly opened it, and took a sip. He shut his eyes in relief. Leave it to Scorpius to come prepared for these kinds of things.</p><p>Thankfully, the potion took effect pretty quickly, and Scorpius was at least able to move to the bed. While this made Albus feel better, he was still worried, and insisted on sitting beside Scorpius until he fell asleep. Albus only noticed then that he was still fairly intoxicated. Albus found it interesting how intoxication can go away when a loved one is in more need.</p><p>“Love you, Al,” Scorpius whispered as he was slowly drifting off.</p><p>Albus brushed the stray hairs out of Scorpius’s shut eyes. “Love you too, Scorp. Night.”</p><p>Albus had never been hungover before, and by how his morning was already going, he had no plans to come close anytime in the distant future. The pair had gotten a late start this morning, not even making it out of their hotel room by noon. Scorpius had thrown up three more times just this morning yet was still insistent that they experience at least a little bit of Central Park before they left. So here they were, walking down the cobbled path that wound through large clumps of trees, Scorpius wearing a ridiculous turquoise foam headband that he said looked like “Lady Liberty”, whoever that was.</p><p>Being a Weasley, Albus was not prevented by a mere hangover from giving into the wonderfully aromatic temptation of the food being sold on the side of the street. The thing he was eating was apparently called a “hot dog”, something Albus and Scorpius had never seen at Hogwarts, or anywhere around muggle London for that matter. However, Albus quite enjoyed it, and would probably eat two or three more if given the opportunity.</p><p>“There are rumors that this place used to be a hotspot for Dark Magic back in the late nineteenth century,” Scorpius remembered.</p><p>“I can see it. If I were a dark wizard and needed to get out of the eyes of everyone, I’d come here,” Albus allowed. Scorpius chuckled.</p><p>They walked past all sorts of park landmarks, and sometimes Albus found himself trying especially hard to keep up with Scorpius’s extremely long strides. It was fascinating how Scorpius could suddenly have so much energy after a night like last night.</p><p>They passed a carousel and debated going on it but ended up deciding not to, due to the fragility of their current conditions. They continued to walk around, Scorpius pointing out random things he noticed, like different trees they had here in America, or statues of historic American figures.</p><p>Before long, it was time for them to take the subway back to the hotel, which meant that their time in New York City was coming to an end. Albus really was enjoying his time, and he could tell Scorpius was too (minus a few too many drink)s. He was excited to continue to spending time with Scorpius and take in the many more things America had to offer.</p>
<hr/><p>As they packed up their things, and picked out the Portkey for Washington D.C., their next destination, an owl arrived at their hotel window carrying two rolled up pieces of parchment: one for Albus, and one for Scorpius. Prior to leaving on the trip, both of their parents arranged for a trans-Atlantic owl service to deliver correspondence three times on their trip: one in the first few days (just to make sure they were there safely), one at around the middle of their trip, and one as they were about to leave.</p><p>“Finally,” Scorpius sighed, “I was getting a little worried they wouldn’t make it before we left.”</p><p>Scorpius took the two pieces of parchment and handed the one addressed to Albus to him. Albus unrolled it as Scorpius did his and read what his parents had to say.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Dear Albus,</em>
</p><p>
  <em>We hope you made it to New York alright. Please let us know if you have forgotten anything. If you need anything, please let us know. We don’t mind sending it to you. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>How’s Scorpius? Tell him we said hello. Have you decided what you’re going to do about him yet? We’re very excited for you. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Please do not get into any trouble. You have already taken multiple years off of our lives. We love you very much.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>All our love,</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Mum and Dad</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Albus grabbed some parchment and a quill from his suitcase and considered his reply very carefully. He began writing, doing his best to hide from Scorpius what he was going to say.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Mum and Dad-</em>
</p><p>
  <em>We made it okay, and no, I have not forgotten anything. I really do have everything I need, however much that may surprise you.</em>
</p><p><em>Scorpius is doing well. He is really enjoying himself. I think I am going to do it closer to the end of the trip—not sure where yet. You both will be the first to know when I do. </em> </p><p>
  <em>Tell Lily and James I said hi. Love you all.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>-Albus</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>Albus quickly rolled up the parchment as Scorpius was finishing his reply.</p><p>“What did you say?” Scorpius wondered.</p><p>“Just that we are doing well. They said hello,” Albus said, trying to sound as casual as possible. Scorpius smiled as he rolled up his own parchment addressed to Draco.</p><p>“What did you say?” Albus countered.</p><p>“Same thing pretty much,” Scorpius said, “my dad just wanted to go over all of the booking logistics again,”</p><p>“Ah,” Albus realized.</p><p>As Albus watched Scorpius tie the two pieces of parchment to the owl to be sent to England, he thought about the platinum ring with emerald accents in his suitcase that he strategically placed in one of his socks to keep hidden from Scorpius. He looked forward to the slowly approaching moment where it would be used.</p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Washington, D.C.</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Albus and Scorpius explore America's capitol. Albus faces passing the time in a muggle library while Scorpius faces a fear Albus would have never guessed of.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Sorry for the wait — hope you all are still there. Things just got really busy with the end of term, but here is an update for you finally! Please leave comments and kudos if you like the story! It gives me the motivation I need to keep writing. Hope to hear from some of you guys! &lt;3</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Albus had known that he wanted to propose to Scorpius for at least a year now. There came a point in their relationship where he just didn’t see himself spending the rest of his life with anyone <em>other </em>than Scorpius. The thought of that even scared Albus, and he tried not to think about it often.</p><p>He decided to go ahead and start saving up for a ring at the end of his sixth year and spent almost the entirety of last summer working at his uncle’s joke shop. The work was relatively fun, minus a few suspicious inquiries from his uncles Ron and George about what he planned on using the money for. The only people he had told at the time were his parents, who were more than supportive of the idea. Harry had proposed to Ginny at a fairly young age, so they saw no problem with Albus and Scorpius getting engaged, as long as it was after their graduation from Hogwarts.</p><p>Then there was Draco. Of course, he had to have the much-dreaded conversation at some point. It took a while to find a moment alone with Draco, but he finally got that moment when he was on holiday with them in Paris this past Christmas break. Scorpius was particularly entranced by a section of a museum, and Albus and Draco hung back and admired Scorpius’s learning from afar.</p><p>“He really <em>never</em> stops learning, does he?” Draco grinned.</p><p>“Sometimes I wonder how he can hold so much information in there,” Albus laughed, nervousness slowly rising in his voice.</p><p>“Well he didn’t get it for me, that’s for sure. I always stayed on the ignorant side in school unfortunately,” Draco laughed.</p><p>“Draco, I actually have something I’ve been wanting to ask you,” Albus finally let out. Usually he would try to just mutter through awkward conversations, but this was important, and he needed to speak his intentions clearly.</p><p>“Yes, Albus?” Draco replied, a little taken aback.</p><p>“Well the thing is, Scorpius and I have been a part of each other’s lives now for almost six years, and I don’t see that ever changing,” Albus explained. Draco’s expression changed, as if he already knew where this conversation was going.</p><p>Albus continued, “I wanted to ask you if you would be okay with me proposing to Scorpius. After graduation, of course.”</p><p>Draco smiled. “Albus, you have been such a blessing to not only Scorpius, but to me as well,” he stated. Albus could make out Draco’s eyes glassing up. “When Scorpius’s mother passed, I worried about him so much, especially when he was at Hogwarts and there was almost nothing I could do to protect him from the awful things that other students were circulating about him. <em>You</em> made me feel better, because I knew that there was at least someone there looking out for him,” Draco said. He was always very well-spoken. “I would be a prat if I said no to you being a part of our lives forever. So, my answer is yes.”</p><p>As he packed up the remainder of his things in the New York City hotel room, Albus remembered how relieved he felt after hearing those words from Draco. It lifted any remaining tension he thought they had due to Albus being a Potter. One last time for good measure, Albus felt for the ring box still hidden in one of his many mismatched socks. He found it, gave it a quick squeeze, and zipped up his suitcase.</p><p>Across the room, Scorpius was carefully levitating an American flag keychain, the Portkey that was preassigned to Washington, D.C. Scorpius dropped the keychain on the hotel bed and looked over to Albus, who was dragging his things over to him.</p><p>“We have to grab it at exactly the same time,” Scorpius reminded Albus. “You ready?”</p><p>“As ready as I’ll ever be,” said Albus.</p><p>“On three,” Scorpius said as both of their hands hovered over the keychain on the bed.</p><p>“One, two, THREE!”</p><p>They both grabbed the keychain and were rapidly on their way to America’s capitol.</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p>After finding their way to their hotel and getting their bags into their room, Scorpius was not hesitant at the very least to start their exploration as soon as possible. After listening to him list off all of the things he wanted to do, Albus could tell that D.C. was the place Scorpius was looking forward to the most. Albus could tell why, as it seemed the most scholarly of the places they were to visit.</p><p>They started out on the National Mall, Scorpius pointing out famous landmarks, like the Washington Monument, a large needle that stood in front of a rectangular pool that provided a perfect reflection of it. As Albus admired it, he noticed that Americans had the luxury of a lot more space. They didn’t have anything like this in England.</p><p>With more space came a lot more walking, much more than either Albus or Scorpius were used to. “You know, Scorpius, I think we should exercise more,” Albus pointed out. “All this walking is tiring me out, and these muggles are running around, acting like it’s no big deal at all,” he continued.</p><p>Scorpius sighed in agreement. “I have read some magical studies that Wizards are on average 34% less fit than their muggle counterparts. There have been efforts in the past to promote more exercise in the Wizarding World, but I guess it just wasn’t something most could get behind.”</p><p>The one reason why Scorpius was so excited to visit D.C. was to pay a visit to The Library of Congress, one of the largest libraries in the world, according to him. Albus could think of many, many places that he would rather be than in a library, but Scorpius wanted to go, and Albus couldn’t think of any reasons not to accompany his boyfriend.</p><p>They walked past the large building that Scorpius explained was the United States Capitol, and another that was apparently called the Supreme Court. As Scorpius was explaining something about “checks and balances”, Albus noticed two men probably in their mid-thirties walking with a small girl, who was maybe four or five years old. They all looked happy, the little girl screaming in a fit of laughter and the two adults brightly smiling down at her. Albus assumed these two men were married and this must be their child, and he couldn’t help but imagine himself in that position one day hopefully.</p><p>But then he thought of the obstacles in-between the present and this distant-future version of himself. First, he would have to propose to Scorpius. This was less of an obstacle of course and more of just something he had to do, which he was excited about. Nervous, but excited. Then he had to do the whole marriage thing, and as much as he loved all of his extended family, he did not like the idea of all of the attention being on him. This still wasn’t really what Albus was most worried about, though.</p><p><em>I wonder what they do for a living, </em>Albus thought to himself as the family finally passed by him and Scorpius. Maybe only one of them had a job, like something really important for the American government, and the other was a stay-at-home dad. <em>At least they have themselves figured out. </em></p><p>All Albus wanted was to <em>know</em> what he wanted, and he was still no close to figuring it out. He was getting less-and-less confident that he would figure <em>anything</em> out on this trip. Maybe there would be something at the library that would help him, a muggle book of careers or something that might inspire him. But he immediately dismissed this thought when he thought of how nervous it would make Scorpius to see him reading it. He didn’t want Scorpius to think he was still worrying on this trip.</p><p>Once they were inside a very ornate building, similar to a lot of buildings they would see in muggle London, they got their library cards and were off to one of the reading rooms Scorpius had selected from a map he was handed earlier. Albus had never been to a muggle library before, and he figured if he was going to wait for Scorpius to browse the many, many shelves of the medical section, he better find something to pass the time. He picked up a very flashy and colorful magazine on American football.</p><p>“Scorpius, have you ever heard of this version of football that Americans play?” Albus asked as he flipped quickly through the pages of colorful advertisements and pictures of burly men wearing a ridiculous amount of padding.</p><p>“No, I’d have to admit that muggle sports are something that do not interest me that much,” Scorpius confessed.</p><p>“Look at how much padding they have to wear! They literally throw each other to the ground,” Albus said, surprised at his discovery of this new sport. He wondered if this is how his dad felt when he discovered Quidditch for the first time. “It’s too bad it is out of season, Albus sighed, “this would be fascinating to watch while we are here.” Scorpius looked over, nodded with a slight grin, and then returned to his book on cardiovascular diseases.</p><p>They spent another two hours reading and browsing, and then were back in the warmness of summer’s Washington D.C. As they made their way to find somewhere to eat for dinner, Albus remembered something he had seen in the library- a poster for the National Zoo.</p><p>“Hey Scorp, have you ever been to a muggle zoo? I hear they have a really nice one here.”</p><p>Scorpius’s face suddenly turned to a slight shade of pink, which usually meant he was nervous. “No, I haven’t,” he finally got out in a tone that matched his very nervous expression.</p><p>“Well, I think we should go tomorrow. I’ve never even seen a lot of the creatures in the muggle world. It’s a little funny, don’t you think? Considering what Hagrid has shown us and I haven’t even seen an elephant.”</p><p>“They’re not that exciting, Al. Are you sure you don’t want to go to a museum? They have loads of them here.”</p><p>Late the next morning, they found themselves in the reptile room of the National Zoo, and Albus had finally realized why Scorpius was so hesitant to go.</p><p>“I cannot believe after being in Slytherin for <em>seven </em>years that you are afraid of snakes. <em>Snakes.”</em></p><p>Scorpius sighed. “The idea of them don’t scare me, and you know how much I <em>love</em> the color green, but real-live snakes just give me the creeps. They’re so slithery and slimy,” Scorpius shuddered.</p><p>“Well, you’re the one who said we need to <em>grow </em>on this trip, so here we are Scorp. Here is your opportunity for growth. Look how cute that little one is,” Albus gushed as he pointed to a particularly small paper-white corn snake. Scorpius still did not look at ease at all.</p><p>They continued making their way through the reptile house, and Albus could see Scorpius relax right as they walk out of the doors and into the sunlight. They continued to explore many other parts of the zoo, including live pandas, which neither of them had ever seen before. Scorpius found them exceptionally cute and mentioned that he wouldn’t mind having one as a pet at the Manor.</p><p>“I mean, look how cuddly they are!” Scorpius gushed as he watched a panda rip a rather large amount of bamboo up and proceed to eat it quickly.</p><p>“They are cute until that bamboo is your neck,” Albus smiled. He always loved that even though Scorpius was so intelligent, he always had an adorable sense of naivety to him. He couldn’t think of anyone else who would be so deathly afraid of snakes but wouldn’t mind keeping a giant panda weighing more than two of him as a pet. It was the one thing that kept Scorpius’s ability to recite facts about nearly everything from driving Albus mad.</p><p>For lunch, they had another American classic: corndogs. To Albus, they looked like the sausages they had at school, but just deep fried in oil. “It really is amazing the stuff Americans have managed to figure out they could fry,” Albus said through a particularly large mouthful of corndog. Scorpius agreed with a nod as he worked on an equally large bite himself.</p><p>The zoo had been easily Albus’s favorite part of the trip so far. He had always had a fascination with magical creatures at school, and he really enjoyed getting to see some of the ones muggles studied. Before he knew it, they were walking back to their hotel to pack up their things and head to their next destination, which would be Austin, Texas.</p>
<hr/><p>Austin had actually been partly Albus’s idea. He and his family watched many films over the summers, some of them being old westerns (James’s idea). He always wondered if Texas was what it looked like in the movies, so he suggested to Scorpius that they go to that state and Scorpius picked Austin after doing a bunch of research on Texas cities. Scorpius had warned Albus that Texas would probably not be what he imagined in his head, but Albus had to see for himself.</p><p>After they packed up their things, Scorpius levitated a baby-sized cowboy boot out of his suitcase, they both simultaneously grabbed it, and were both hurdling rapidly towards their next destination. It was the first time Albus realized that he was truly excited to be going somewhere.</p>
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<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Austin</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Albus and Scorpius take on Austin, Texas. Albus finds out if Texas is actually filled with cowboys riding horses, someone may (or may not) get down on one knee, and some cute moments with wonderful views are to be shared.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hello everyone! Sorry for the wait! Only three more chapters to go after this. I'm hoping to have the next one done sometime this week, so the wait shouldn't be as long. Please leave comments and kudos! They really do provide me the motivation to keep writing. Also feel free to follow my new book twitter at @coolslytherin7</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>Dear Al,</em>
</p><p><em>I hope this letter finds you well. Cross-continental owl post is always a bit dodgy, and the owl didn’t seem too happy to deliver the letter to me considering how far it had to go.</em> </p><p>
  <em>Your father and I are very excited for you. Hopefully, you will have proposed by the time you receive this owl. Our best congrats if you did! We are so happy for you both. Looking forward to beginning wedding-planning with Draco, it’ll be lovely.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>How is the trip? Hope you have made it to Austin by now. So, are cowboys real?</em>
</p><p>
  <em>All our love,</em>
</p><p>
  <em>-Mum (and Dad)</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Albus smiled into his letter, thinking about the thought of his mom arguing with Draco about the details of his hopefully soon-to-be wedding. He thought carefully of his reply. He knew what he was going to say, but he felt very anxious about what he was about to write to his parents.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Dear Mum (and Dad)</em>
</p><p>
  <em>I really am starting to have loads of fun on this trip, but don’t get ahead of yourselves. I have not done it yet, but I actually plan on it tomorrow, I think.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Austin is very pretty. I think it is my favorite place so far. I will say that I am quite disappointed, as I have yet to see a real cowboy out and about. I am starting to think they aren’t real. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>-Albus</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Moments later, Albus and Scorpius’s letters were off on their long journey across the world. Albus thought about what he had just sent off. He was going to propose to Scorpius very soon and writing it in the letter made the decision that much more final. A strong feeling of excitement swelled in him as he watched the owls disappear into the very hot day.</p><p>“You okay?” Scorpius asked as he planted a kiss on Albus’s hair from behind. Albus made a deep exhale. “Of course, Scorp.”</p>
<hr/><p>“It’s a little hotter here than I expected,” said Scorpius as he dramatically fanned himself with his hand. “It’s your complexion,” joked Albus. You just can’t take the heat like us Potters can.”</p><p>They were on their way to Barton Springs, a spring-fed pool that looked pretty interesting to Albus as he was doing the Scorpius-assigned research on Austin. Albus was a big influence on picking this city and was therefore tasked with choosing the places they would go. Albus loved swimming, so this place looked like a must.</p><p>After a lot of sweat and a little more complaining from Scorpius about the hot weather, they finally arrived at the gate entrance to Barton Springs. They paid their way in and were making their way down the steep hill towards the pool. Albus looked around, observing the other visitors. They were definitely unlike the people they were usually surrounded with back in England. These people looked <em>cool- </em>like Albus’s uncle Bill. Everyone had their own unique sense of style and were proudly wearing it. This was something that Albus greatly appreciated.</p><p>Once they got their belongings all settled and stripped down into their bathing suits, Scorpius made a beeline towards the water and jumped right in. Albus was not surprised, as this was something he suspected Scorpius had been wanting to do for a while.</p><p>“Get in, Albus! The water feels great,” Scorpius beamed from inside the pool, his head bobbing up and down with the movement of the water.</p><p>Albus made his way to the steps into the pool, not exactly sharing Scorpius’s enthusiasm. He was taking the safe way in, and there was no telling him otherwise. As soon as his toes touched the water, he knew that he had made a mistake coming here. This was definitely not an average pool.</p><p>“Bollocks, Scorpius! The water is freezing!”</p><p>“You just have to go in all at once. You’ll get used to it, I promise,” Scorpius assured as Albus kept trying to dip his toe in and quickly pulling it out as it grazed the surface of the water for a second. Finally, he slowly started submerging himself into the almost painfully cold water one step at a time until he was fully in the water with Scorpius.</p><p>“This does feel nice,” Albus admitted as he finally got acclimated to the water.</p><p>“Told you!” Scorpius said.</p><p>They spent the next hour or so making a slow lap around the long, expansive pool while occasionally stopping to people-watch and sometimes engage in the occasional splash fight (they were of age but very much not above this).</p><p>“I can’t get over how different everyone looks here. It is really interesting,” said Albus as they walked up the steps to change out of their bathing suits.</p><p>“Austin is one of the most progressive cities in the States,” Scorpius explained. “–which is really funny, considering the State of Texas is one of the most conservative. American politics really is fascinating.”</p><p>“It would probably be nice to live somewhere like here,” Albus added. Scorpius nodded in agreement.</p><p>Albus thought about the environment he had grown up in. Things had definitely gotten better ever since his Aunt Hermione became Minister for Magic. He would definitely have more hesitations about living under some of the other Ministers for Magic, like Cornelius Fudge.</p><p>Once they were feeling done with the water, their hands and feet very pruned, they got out of the pool, and made their way back up the steep hill with their belongings to change back into their normal clothes. Albus felt his stomach begin to grumble. He looked forward to experiencing the legendary food that Austin had to offer.</p>
<hr/><p>…And his expectations were surpassed with flying colors. They decided to eat at a place called “Chuy’s”, a place that served a type of food called “Tex-Mex”. It was food like they had never had before– there really was nothing like this in England. Albus was eating a massive burrito topped with a type of meat sauce that had to be eaten with a fork. Scorpius, on the other hand was eating cheese enchiladas.</p><p>“Yup. This is definitely going to make me sick,” Scorpius admitted as he preemptively rubbed his abdomen. Being a little to acclimated to the light French-style food from the Manor, Scorpius was not as much of a fan as Albus was. Albus, on the other hand, was much more accustomed to heavier food, his mother taking him and his siblings to fast-food restaurants like MacDonald’s as he grew up.</p><p>Feeling very fool from the great food they ate and a little tipsy from margaritas they tried for the first time, Albus and Scorpius were in good spirits. Albus had come to the realization that Tex-Mex very well might be one of his favorite types of foods ever. He wished there were more (if any) places like this in England, and he made a note to try and find something similar once they got back to England. After Scorpius insisted on footing the bill (once again), they were back into the warm Texas air.</p><p>Austin was definitely the best American city Albus had visited so far. The food was amazing, the people were amazing, everything about it was just so <em>amazing</em>. With Scorpius’s hand in Albus’s, they walked down the street back to their downtown hotel, taking in the amazing views of the expansive skyline being reflected over a large, shimmering lake.</p><p>As the sun began to set, runners and bikers could be seen out and about, and the city had so much active life. As they crossed a large bridge over the lake, Albus noticed what looked like hundreds of boats out on the lake, with pairs of people rowing to and away from them. By the direction of Scorpius’s gaze, Albus could tell that he noticed them too. After staring at the many boats passing by for a few seconds, their eyes met.</p><p>Scorpius spoke first. “Do you want to-”</p><p>“You know I do!” Albus interrupted enthusiastically. He had never been on a boat that he was rowing himself before without magic, and there was no better time to try. And then another idea dawned on him, one that made his stomach jolt with excitement. The image looked perfectly in his head. This would be where he would propose to his boyfriend.</p><p>Once they were back to the hotel and took care of their nightly routine, which ultimately ended with some much-anticipated activities in the bed, they were fast asleep, exhausted from a long day. That night, Albus dreamt of the proposal that was imminently happening the next day. That moment could not come sooner.</p>
<hr/><p>Late the next morning, Albus and Scorpius were on their way back towards Town Lake, and Albus felt his pocket for about the seventh time, just to make sure he could still feel the familiar circle of the ring. He didn’t know what he would do if he reached down and the ring wasn’t there. He almost wanted to get this proposal over with as soon as possible before he had the opportunity to lose the ring he worked really hard to be able to buy.  </p><p>Fortunately, there was not much more waiting that needed to be done. This was it. This was really it. He was finally going to tell Scorpius that he wanted him in his life forever, and any hesitations had vanished at this point. All he felt was excitement. Albus looked over at Scorpius, who was a little red from the previous day’s swim (they really should have applied more of their Ginny-recommended sunscreen).</p><p>Albus admired how absolutely beautiful his boyfriend was. The bright sun made his whole appearance even brighter, and he almost had a bright aura around him. Albus couldn’t help but give Scorpius a peck on the cheek while they were walking, which was returned with an all-too-adorable smile.</p><p>They eventually made it to the rowing dock, paid the attendant, and were given life vests to wear. As they made their way to the dock to get in their kayak, Albus only then realized his lack of experience when it came to being on a boat.</p><p>“Scorpius, I think he last time I was on a boat was our first year when we sailed across the lake with Hagrid.”</p><p>Scorpius considered that for a second. “You know, I don’t think I have either. This ought to be interesting,” he grinned.</p><p>Their lack of experience became apparent as soon as they made contact with the bright green kayak. Scorpius almost tipped the whole boat as he was trying to get in, which was luckily saved by the attendant helping them. However, after a few more minutes of struggling and adjusting, they were off on their own, gliding to the center of the lake.</p><p>“I’m pretty sure you’re supposed to paddle the other way,” Albus laughed to Scorpius as they tried to figure out why the kayak was going nowhere, and merely spinning in circles. Scorpius paddled the other direction now, and they were finally able to control the direction they were moving in. Once they figured this out, they were paddling relatively fast toward the skyline.</p><p>The view from the bridge from their walk the previous night was great, but this view was even better. There was something really cool about them seeing things from the perspective of from the surface of the water.</p><p>Albus looked at Scorpius. They were facing each other, and Scorpius beamed at him. Albus was glad that Scorpius was having as good of a time as he was. Albus knew that if there was any moment to do it, this was it. He felt a wave a nervousness take over him as he became increasingly aware of the ring in his pocket. <em>Here we go, </em>Albus thought.</p><p>Everything after that happened so fast. He had begun to try to kneel on the small space on the bottom of the boat and his hand moved to his pocket. However, apparently boats were very much not built to be kneeled in. The boat immediately began to violently rock and before they had time to say anything, Albus and Scorpius were thrown into the depths of the lake.</p>
<hr/><p>“What were you even <em>doing?”</em></p><p>“I thought I saw something at the bottom of the boat,” Albus sighed. Scorpius shook his head. Scorpius did not look angry, but Albus could not help but worry that Scorpius was a little bit irritated. It took them a while to get back in the boat and back to the dock that they came from, and Albus was very thankful to be off the boat and back on land.</p><p>They considered using Scorpius’s wand (thankfully he had brought his) to dry off, but with the number of muggles around, they decided they would just walk along the trail bordering the lake until they were relatively dry. Albus put his hand to his pocket to make sure that the ring was still there. Thankfully, it was. He let out a discreet sigh of relief.</p><p>There were moments in their school days where Albus had felt embarrassed, but this was a different type of embarrassment. The difference was he genuinely cared about the person he was embarrassed in front of, probably more than anyone else. Another thing was that he was about to do something so special, so intimate, and he greatly messed it all up. <em>Maybe this is a sign, </em>he thought to himself. And then all of the familiar racing thoughts worry came back, and within seconds, he was back in the mindset he was in when he boarded the plane back in London.</p><p>“I’m really sorry, Scorpius. I didn’t mean to fuck this all up,” Albus said, his voice sounding somewhat shaky. There was a long pause of silence, which only allowed Albus’s anxiety to increase. Albus could feel a couple tears of frustration well up in his eyes. Then he heard Scorpius laugh.</p><p>“Albus, you’ve gotten us into much more trouble than this. Even <em>I’ve </em>gotten us into more trouble than this. Remember only a few nights ago in New York?”</p><p>Albus felt the anxiety melt away as quickly as it resurfaced and have a small laugh.</p><p>“You’re right. I guess I can’t help but worry sometimes. I never want to make you upset with me,” Albus admitted.</p><p>“You know how hard it is to do that, Albus,” said Scorpius. Scorpius stopped walking and faced Albus. “I am not going anywhere, so you should not worry about stupid stuff like this,” he continued. “Come on, there’s actually one more place I want to go to.”</p>
<hr/><p>The climb to the top of Mount Bonnell (which was not even a mountain, but more-so a rather large hill), was long and it was moments like these where Albus wished that he could just use magic without the fear of muggles seeing.  However, the view they got to see once they were at the top was breathtaking.</p><p>A look off the hill showed an expansive lake surrounded by massive rolling green hills which had huge mansions dispersed among them. Albus thought about how cool it would be to live in one of those mansions, thinking about the views the owners get to experience every day.</p><p>They had made it up just before sunset, and the sky was glowing in a beautiful array of orange, deep blue, and purple. This would be perfect spot for another attempt at the proposal, but it just didn’t feel right doing it after the failed attempt earlier that day. There was plenty of time left on the trip, and Albus was sure another perfect moment would come.</p><p>They found a nice rock to sit on together and Scorpius rested his head on Albus’s shoulder as they watched the sun slowly begin to disappear behind the hills. Albus turned to plant a kiss on the top of Scorpius’s soft pale hair, which was glowing in the light from the sunset.</p><p>“I love you so much Scorpius. I feel so lucky to be here with you right now,”</p><p>“I am the lucky one, Albus Severus,” Scorpius said as he turned his head up to kiss Albus.</p><p>Albus remembered the moment they met, almost eight years ago, and realized how far they had come and everything they had been through. He was so, so lucky. He didn’t know who he had to thank for having such an amazing person consistently in his life, even one that he could love intimately. As many things have gone wrong in his life, he would go through even twice as much if it meant that he still got to spend the rest of his life with someone so perfect for him.</p>
<hr/><p>
  <em>Thousands of miles away, letters arrived into the homes of Ginny Potter and Draco Malfoy. They both grabbed the letters, unsealed the parchment, and began reading.</em>
</p><p>           </p><p> </p><p>           </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>             </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>           </p>
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